Tag: book reviews

As an indie author, or independent author (i.e. I do everyone myself when it comes to the business and writing aspects), I’ve been asked by several people how they can support my journey and other indies. Outside of buying our work, there are several ways that you can support your favorite self-published author. Here are four ways to love on them.

Buy their book, preferably directly from the writer and don’t wait for a discount. One of the hardest things a writer can do is get paid for their craft, directly. When I say directly, I mean without something or somebody taking a piece of the pie (after taxes that is so IRS don’t come after me). Choosing to buy directly from that starving creative guarantees that they see more than 50 percent of the revenue. This may seem a bit confusing seeing that we keep also sell our books on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other platforms but to be honest, we have to. Everyone won’t see this blog and for those who prefer to go through a larger distributor, we have to spread our words as far and as wide as we can. But for those of you who are reading this…ditch the big distributor and reach out to the writer.

Leave a review or tell a friend. Another reason we must put our books on large distribution channels is to encourage and streamline reviews. Reviews are one of the most important actions you can take as a reader to support an author. We need honest and specific reviews to encourage others who you can write or even talk directly to take a chance on our book. Word of mouth changes the game for all companies and it’s the same for indie writers. Pass the word around.

Follow them on their channels, including social media. This is an easy, quick and free way to support your favorite wordsmith. The great thing, and at times annoying feature to social media, is its like/share algorithm. When you follow or like someone’s post, the platform creates an algorithm to share out what you liked or shared with others in your community. In other words, like away and don’t forget to comment.

Give the book to someone who could help. As I stated before, word of mouth is a powerful promotional effort. If you are able to get your favorite author’s words into the right hands, it could change that author’s life forever.

So, help an indie author out. We love what we do and if they are like me, we won’t stop because it’s our purpose.

One of the hardest things to do as a writer, is to get honest feedback. A lot of times, we are dying to hear what a complete stranger would think about our plot, tone or structure of our story. Do people really get our words or are we just sounding or writing in a bunch of jumbled words like Boomhauer of King of the Hill.

Enter Reviews.

A fellow author, and muse from a far, CP Patrick drop some knowledge on how we really are looking to get honest feedback through reviews to help understand our writing styles, promote our book and hopefully attract new readers. We promise that reviews are not to stroke our egos–ok it may help our egos some if it’s amazing feedback we never thought we would ever hear from a stranger…but that’s not a bad thing right?

Check out an excerpt from her post, A Word on Reviews, which shines some much needed light on why your thoughts are vital for us newbies. And after you’ve read the “why”, help a sister out with a review on one of my books currently on #SpringReading sale on Amazon.

Authors often ask readers to leave reviews, especially new authors. But it’s not for the reasons some people might think. It has less to do with ego and more to do with receiving honest feedback, marketing opportunities and attracting new readers….

Honest Feedback
Publishing a book is an exciting and nerve-wracking experience. There’s the joy of “I did it!” Which is quickly followed by “Oh my God! People are going to read my book!” And we all know how cruel the Internet can be. Certainly, every author receives negative reviews. Go look at some of your favorite books or current best-sellers. There are rave reviews and soul-crushing reviews. Because that’s reality – not everyone is going to like everything…

Marketing Opportunities
What many readers may not know is that reviews are often tied to marketing opportunities for authors. And not just favorable reviews – the number of reviews help too. This is particularly true for ebook subscription marketing opportunities as well as Amazon book pairings. One of the reasons The Truth About Awitihas done well is because of the number of reviews that the book has received…

Attracting New Readers
Another benefit of leaving a review for an author is that reviews help attract new readers. Don’t you enjoy reading book reviews before making a purchase? If you really enjoyed reading a book, one of the most helpful things you can do is leave a review on Goodreads and the site where you purchased the book, such as Amazon, B&N, or even your favorite indie bookstore. Your review just might be the one that influences readers to purchase the book…